Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Two adult adoptees, Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne, delve into all things adoption - from their perspectives as adult adoptees.
Each season Sarah and Louise recap a chapter from a book centered on adoption and then interview a guest. Sarah and Louise come out of the 'fog' in real-time through Seasons One and Two and are advocating for change in the adoption industry. They want to give voice to all adoptees. Adoptee stories are needed to reframe the narrative around adoption.
Sarah and Louise, two former business partners who had a successful ice cream truck in Los Angeles, team up again - this time in frank and honest conversations about all things adoption from the adoptee perspective. Both were adopted shortly after birth, but they had very different experiences.
These will be intimate conversations, but also fun - because Sarah and Louise know how to lighten things up and have a good time. They also have an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a subject with anyone who crosses their path - so conversations will take many turns.
Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Kathleen: A Reunion Full of Surprises
Kathleen was born in 1968 in Northern California. Her birth mother relinquished her for adoption immediately upon birth, and Kathleen was then adopted by a loving family who already had a 3-year-old adopted son.
When Kathleen was 22 years old she found her birth mother. Thirty years later she learned that her birth father was an enforcer for the Hells Angels and was shot and killed when Kathleen was seven years old.
She also learned that she has at least seven sisters and one brother on her father’s side -- all from different mothers from the same birth father. Each of her siblings is about a year apart. Kathleen has met most of her siblings and remains in contact with each of them to this day.
Kathleen is a sociology professor living with her spouse in Honolulu and continues to make sense of her adoption experience through a sociological lens.
To hear the full call of Kathleen's Birth Mother:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjt5_vLQYK4
LINK to hear the full call to Kathleen's Birth Mother.
Correction to the episode from Kathleen: It has been 5 years since finding all of my 8 birth siblings. However, just a year and a half since Marianne and Kenny passed away.
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 14:55
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri
Eventbrite: LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & A PHOTO JOURNEY with Jeff Forney of The Innocent People Project
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom /ADOPTEE CAFE community. Our next Zoom is on 9/14 at 1 pm ET.
To support the show - Patreon.